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Delta to start using jets at Minn. Range airport

Delta Air Lines will start using larger, jet-powered aircraft at Chisholm-Hibbing Airport this week.

Delta will replace its 34 passenger turbo-prop planes with larger jet-powered aircraft on Thursday. The new 50-passenger jets will make the 45-minute flight from Hibbing to Minneapolis twice a day.

Airport executive director Shaun Germolus said the change will help the airport keep up with a 30-percent increase in the number of passengers over the past two years. It's the first
jet service to Hibbing since the 1970s, he said.

The Chisholm-Hibbing Airport Authority on Monday announced the
change. The airport is important for the mining industry and other businesses on the Iron Range, Germolus said.

"It's a very critical element to our region. We look at is as a large economic development tool for our region," Germolus said. "We would be at a real competitive disadvantage if we didn't have public air service transportation."